Life in Camelot: Series 1
by ANNAFLORINDA
Summary: MODERN, NON-MAGICAL AU. Following the lives 4 main charecters: Merlin, Gwen, Morgana & Arthur, alongside: Freya & Lancelot du Lac, Relationships will be put to the test; some will bloom and some will fall. Which of the 6 of them will find happiness either with one an other, or with others and who will be the ones who are left heart-broken. Merlin/Gwen, Merlin/Freya Arthur/Mithian,
1. Ep 1: I'm going back to the start

12

Life in Camelot series.

SERIES 1.

Chapter 1: I'm going back to the start…

The city of Camelot was a very big and prosperous one in England.

In the centre, there was a café, where four friends were sitting, talking.

"There's nothing wrong with him! You guys are so mean!" protested Morgana Gorlois, who was 25-years-old. Her brother, her best friend and old lover were teasing her about the fact that she was going on a date with somebody; all of her relationships always ended in disaster.

Her half-brother was named Merlin Emrys. He was 21; he and Morgana shared the same mum, Hunith Emrys. Merlin had grown up in Northern Ireland, with his mum and had been very happy there. After finished a medical degree at Queen's University, he had moved over to Camelot to become a doctor, where his sister had lived. He was now working at Camelot Hospital.

When he had first arrived in Camelot, he had lived with his and Morgana's grandfather, Gaius Wilsion, but since then he had made friends with Morgana's old lover Arthur Pendragon, who was 26. They had not been good friends initially, in fact they had not even liked each other, but they were now friends and they shared a flat. He was also very close with Morgana's friend from university, Guinevere Coulby, who was the age of his sister. Merlin loved his four-year-old niece dearly and she was wrapped around his little finger.

Morgana Gorlois had grown up in Sligo, Southern Ireland; her parents, Hunith and Sir. Gorlois, had divorced when she had been 4-years-old, so she had lived with her dad until his death when she had been 10, whereupon, for a reason unknown to her, she had been sent to live with her dad's friend, Uther Pendragon, and his son, Arthur, who was a year her senior.

After leaving school, Morgana had attended Camelot University, where she had studied English Literature. Once there, she had met Guinevere, and they had become instant friends.

Four years ago, when she had been 21, she and Arthur had had a love affair. The affair had resulted in the end of Arthur's marriage to the Princess of Spain, but also in Morgana's becoming pregnant.

The baby had been born and Morgana and Arthur had named her Emelia Gorlois-Pendragon. Morgana loved her more than anything in the world, and she now lived with Emelia and Gwen.

After Emelia's birth, Arthur had ended the affair. Morgana had been heart-broken, but she had accepted it.

Emelia, who was now 4, was in her first week at primary school, and she was very happy. She looked like her dad, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Morgana now worked as a journalist in Camelot, and she ensured that she had time to spend with her daughter.

Guinevere (or as she was better known 'Gwen') was the first-born child of a blacksmith and a maid. Her mum, Betty, had died when she had been 16 and her brother, Elyan, had been 10. She and her dad, Tom, were very close, but Elyan had left home when he had been 16 and, so far, he not returned.

After A-levels, Gwen had gone to Camelot University to study French, whereupon she had met her best friend, Morgana.

For the past 4 years, she had not worked as a French teacher, but she had cared for Emelia, whom she loved dearly, but since Emelia had started school, she had started working as a French teacher at Camelot Secondary School.

Gwen's friendship with Merlin had started off as a normal friendship, but now, she did possess feelings for him. It was Gwen's dream to be married with a baby by the time she was 30.

Arthur Pendragon was the son of Uther and Iygraine Pendragon. He was an only-child and always had been. His mum had died when he had been a baby, so he did not remember her and his relationship with his dad was strained.

Arthur had attended Cambridge University to study Law.

When Arthur had been 19-years-old, he had married a woman named Mithian Vero. Nine months after their marriage, their first-born child had come along; a daughter, whom they had named Olivia Pendragon. The following year, Mithian had given birth to a boy, whom they had named Carter Pendragon.

2 years later, when Arthur had been 22, he and Mithian had divorced, on the grounds that Morgana had been pregnant with Arthur's baby. Mithian had taken the children, who had then been aged 3 and 2, to live in Spain, where she had grown up.

Olivia and Carter were now 7 and 6 and, like Emelia, they hardly knew their father; Arthur's relationship with his dad had been bad and he always found seeing Mithian really embarrassing.

He and Merlin were good friends. They were very different, but Merlin always spoke his mind and Arthur liked that.

Arthur laughed. "Morgana, you're dating him- there has to be something wrong with him!"

"I dated you!" snapped Morgana, before she could stop herself. She blushed and looked down at her daughter, who was sitting in her lap.

"Well," said Merlin, breaking the tension, "I think Emelia's nearly asleep, so you need to take her home, 'Gana."

Gwen smiled; Merlin was so kind to his sister and he always sought to protect her.

As they were about to leave the café, two people entered whom they recognised. The young woman was pale with dark hair and brown eyes and the young man had slightly darker skin.

"Freya! Lancelot!" Gwen called out before she could stop herself.

They turned and saw her and the others.

Lancelot came straight over to Gwen, dropping his suitcase at her feet and embracing her old friend.

Freya, on the other hand, walked over to Merlin and the two friends hugged; Merlin and Freya had been best friends at secondary school and they had kept in touch since Freya had moved away after finishing at Queen's.

Morgana and Arthur sat still, wondering who these people were.

Finally, Gwen turned to them and announced, "Morgana, this is Lancelot du Lac, and his sister, Freya. Lance and I trained as teachers together, and Merlin and Freya were friends at school. Lance, this is Morgana Gorlois, Merlin's sister, Arthur Pendragon, and their daughter: Emelia."

Emelia waved and laughed.

Lancelot was Arthur's age, 26, and Freya was 23. They were brother and sister.

Standing up, Merlin let Freya sit down in his chair, smiling, before asking, "Freya, what're doing here? I thought you and Luca would be married by now?"

Freya and Lancelot exchanged a look, then Freya replied: "I ended it. I couldn't marry him, so I left Spain, left him. Lance was around, so we decided to come here and start our new lives here." She smiled at Merlin and Gwen and Morgana picked up something at the same time: Freya fancied Merlin and Gwen felt jealously sweep through her; she really liked Merlin.

**0-0-0-0**

It was arranged that Freya would stay with Gwen, Morgana and Emelia and Lancelot with Merlin and Arthur. Merlin and Lancelot had been friends in the past and Lancelot knew what Merlin meant to his sister, although he had vowed never to tell anyone that.

Merlin knew that Lancelot also fancied Gwen-or he had when he had last seen him.

Freya and Morgana had heard of each other from Merlin and Gwen and they took an instant liking to each other.

Freya and Lancelot were from French-speaking Switzerland, and they still possessed an accent.

**0-0-0-0**

That evening, Arthur went to bed early, to leave Merlin and Lancelot to talk. They sat in the sitting room, with a cup of coffee.

"So, you studied at Queen's then?" Lancelot asked his old friend.

"Yeah. I did Medicine. Did Freya do French?"

Lancelot nodded. "Yeah, she did. And I went to study at Camelot University, where I later met Gwen."

Merlin nibbled on a biscuit, and asked about Lancelot's job and how and where his and Freya's parents were.

Lancelot replied that he had been working as a teaching in Spain, then Freya had contacted him, and the two of them had decided to move over to Camelot. Freya and Lancelot had always been very vague on the topic of their parents, as Merlin was with his father, and he had been wondering for a while if they had been adopted or had been in foster care as children.

"I'm glad we're here," smiled Lancelot, "I know my sister will be cheered up by seeing you."

Merlin bit his lip, then asked, "Lancelot, what happened between her and Luca Vero? After she left Queen's, she moved over to Spain to be with him and they were engaged to be married, weren't they? What happened?"

His friend sighed. "I genuinely have no idea. I haven't been able to get anything out of her really. You know, maybe you can help; Freya was always so open with you."

**0-0-0-0**

The following morning was a Saturday, so Arthur was planning on having a lie-in. He had no such luck, however.

There was a knock on the door.

Lancelot, who was already up and awake, answered the door. It was his sister, Gwen, Morgana and Emelia.

Arthur came out of his room, topless.

Upon seeing the girls, he back-tracked and grabbed a top before going back out.

"Papa!" cried Emelia. She ran over to Arthur and threw her arms around his waist.

Not knowing really what to do, Arthur picked her up and spun her around.

His second daughter laughed. "Papa, papa! Can you take me to see the duckiest at the park! Mummy is."

Arthur met Morgana's eyes and she was flashing him the if-you-don't-I-will-kill-you look.

He agreed to take her.

Emelia hugged him again, then she ran over to her Auntie Gwen and sat on her knee.

"What's your name?" she asked, pointing at Lancelot.

Smiling, he replied, "My name is Lancelot du Lac, my lady."

Emelia giggled.

"Lancelot- boy, your parents had delusions of grandeur, didn't they?" Arthur muttered.

Morgana glared at him, then Emelia said, "I think it's a lovely name, Lance-e-lot." She rested her head on Gwen's shoulder, then asked, "Where's Uncle Merlin?"

Freya saw that Gwen attempted to hide her blush when Merlin was mentioned. It did not go unnoticed by her, nor by her brother, who had always been one to study Gwen Coulby very closely.

Feeling the slight tension, Morgana replied, "Your Uncle Merlin's at work, darling. He'll be back soon."

"Who's going to look after me when you and Papa are at the party?"

Both Gwen and Freya looked up and asked if they had to go.

Morgana replied that of course they did and they should not be worrying about such things.

**0-0-0-0**

It was lunch time at Camelot Hospital and Merlin sat down with Gaius.

"I hear Freya du Lac is in Camelot." remarked Gaius.

Merlin nodded. "Yeah, isn't it great? She's such a great friend?"

"Merlin," his grandfather began, "be careful of her; I've never trusted that girl and I never will. There's something odd about her and her brother, Lance-e-lot. Do you hear me?"

"She's my friend, Gaius, and so Lancelot. Don't worry, I'll be careful." Merlin stood up and left; it was his lunch break and he wanted to spend it with his friends.

**0-0-0-0**

When he arrived back at his and Arthur's flat, only Freya was there, eating very delicately. She explained that the others had taken Emelia to the Park so that Emelia could go and see the ducks and feed them some bread.

"Why didn't you go with them?" Merlin asked, as he organised some lunch for the two of them.

Sitting down at the table, Freya replied, "Well, I've never been much of a duck person or a kid person. Luca was; he wanted to have ducks…and-and kids and I didn't." She paused, then added, in a different voice. "You know, when we were together at secondary school, Merlin, I-I had a huge crush on you. I'm not sure if you knew."

Merlin paused and smiled. "No, I didn't know."

Freya blushed, then moved the conversation onto something a bit less award. As they were talking, Merlin shouldn't help but notice that she watched him very closely, but, being so naïve, it did not occur to him that she still had feelings for him.

**0-0-0-0**

That evening, the party started at half-past eight.

Emelia was being looked after by Gaius, who had no desire to be around drunk, young, flirting people.

Merlin, Gwen, Freya and Lancelot were all standing together, talking and Merlin was watching Arthur out of the corner of his eye.

The barrister was already drunk and messing about with his 'friends'.

Suddenly, all of the male attention, apart from Merlin, was turned to Morgana; she was wearing a purple, elegant dress, with her hair up, but with two bits dangling down at either side of her face. She knew who she was and she knew how to get people to do what she wanted them to do.

Feeling rather uncomfortable, Freya dragged her brother away from Merlin and Gwen to get a drink; she felt a bit intimidated by Morgana's appearance.

"She looks great, doesn't she?" Gwen asked Merlin, as the two of them sat down at a table. Morgana was now standing, talking with Arthur, who was looking south of her face.

Merlin nodded in agreement.

"I so hope that she and Arthur finally realise their feelings and get married; they have Emelia together. What more are they after? Not that I'd want to be her," she added hastily blushing, "who in their right mind would want to marry Arthur Pendragon?" She paused, not sure how far she was willing to go with this- how obvious she was going to make it. "I like much more ordinary men like you."

Chuckling, Merlin remarked, "Gwen, believe me, I'm not ordinary. There's nothing about me that's normal."

Now feeling very embarrassed, Gwen said, "No-no. I didn't mean you, obviously. I don't fancy you- that would be radiculas and improbable."

Merlin frowned; he did not have a clue what was going on with Gwen, but he smiled anyway and nodded.

He liked Gwen. She was a good friend, as Freya, Arthur and Lancelot were good friends. It did not occur to him that she could ever be anything more.

From the other side of the room, Freya was watching. She could see that Merlin and Gwen fitted together well as a couple and that it was only a matter of time; a matter of time before she and Lancelot had their hearts broken by people who were oblivious to their feelings and whom they had liked since their teenage years.


	2. Descriptions of the charecters

Descriptions of charecters at the beginning:

Merlin Emrys: aged 21, from County Armagh, Northern Ireland, grew up with his mum, Hunith Emrys; the half-brother of Morgana Gorlois, the uncle of Emelia Gorlois-Pendragon (Morgana and Arthur's daughter). He is an old friend of Freya & Lancelot du Lac's.

He has: very pale skin, he is skinny and has very, very dark hair. He is very kind and very naïve.

Guinevere "Gwen" Coulby: aged 25, from Camelot. Her dad, Tom, is from South Africa, and her mum, Betty, was from France (she died when Gwen was 16). Her younger brother, Elyan, who is 19, has not been in contact with them since he was 16.

She is friends with Lancelot from teacher trainer and she knows Freya via Lancelot. She & Morgana met at Univerciry. She now works as a French teacher. She fancies Merlin, but he does not know.

Gwen has dark skin, with curley hair and brown eyes. She is loving, caring and always wants to see the best in people.

Morgana Gorlois: She grew up in Sligo, Southern Ireland-until her dad died when she was ten (her parents divorced when she was 4; she is the half-sister of Merlin). After her dad's death, she lived in Camelot, with Arthur and his dad, Uther Pendragon.

She attended Camelot Univercity, whereupon she met Gwen and when she was 21, she & Arthur had an affair, which resulted in her pregnancy. She had the baby & Arthur left her. Morgana loves her daughter, Emelia, very much. She is a Jounralist.

She has pale skin, green eyes, dark hair and is very skinny. She is confident and knows who she is, but she does not know that she is loved.

Arthur Pendragon: the only child of Uther & Iygraine Pendragon. His mum died when he was a baby and his relationship with his father is a strained one.

He attened Cambridge Univercity and studied Law.

At 19, he married Mithian Vero, and they had two children: Olivia Pendragon and Carter Pendragon.

He had an affair, with Morgana, which ended his marriage with Mithian.

He has blonde hair and blue eyes. He is very arrogant and a womanizer.

Freya du Lac: aged 23; she is the younger sister of Lancelot du Lac. All we know so far is that she & her brother were born in Switzerland & that she went to secondary school with Merlin, whom she came to fancy and still does.

She has wavy hair, pale skin and brown eyes. She is shy, but opens up to Merlin. She was engaged to Luca Vero (Mithian's brother) and we do not know what happened.


End file.
